Entertainment

Paolo Ballesteros transforms into Barbie for red carpet premiere

Philstar.com

November 28, 2017 | 8:53am

Paolo Ballesteros transforms into Barbie for red carpet premiere

Paolo Ballesteros as Barbie. Instagram/Paolo Ballesteros

MANILA, Philippines — In time for the red carpet premiere of his latest movie, award-winning actor, TV host and makeup transformation idol Paolo Ballesteros has made himself look like a human Barbie doll.

Ballesteros has garnered thousands of social media followers and has been praised by Hollywood actresses like Lena Headey of “Game of Thrones” and supermodel Gigi Hadid for his amazing makeup impersonations of stars like Angelina Jolie, Kim Kardashian, Ariana Grande and Tyra Banks.

For the red carpet premiere of “Barbie D’ Wonder Beki” on Monday night, Paolo came as a human Barbie doll, with co-star Ejay Falcon as “Ken.”

After the success of his film “Die Beautiful” last year that received many awards, including Best Actor at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival, Paolo is back in the silver screen with his own version of the Joey de Leon classic “Barbie D’ Wonder Beki.”

“Tayong mga Pinoy malalambot ang puso natin basta pamilya na ang usapan. ‘Yung movie ay hindi naman lang puro pagpapaganda ni Barbie. At the end of the day, it’s all about family. ‘Yung tanggapin ka kung sino ka at kung san ka masaya,” the “Eat Bulaga” host said in a recent press conference.

Paolo said he is very glad that his idol Joey is also a part of the movie. He, however, felt scared and shy at the same time to be with the veteran actor.

“Yung last na Barbie na ginawa n’ya is parang 20 plus years ago, tapos isasabak mo nanaman s’ya sa shooting na mag-aantay s’ya, tapos mag me-makeup pa ko ganun, parang nakakatakot in a way pero nakakatuwa kasi hindi naman s’ya umuuwi eh, nandyan s’ya eh. Minsan nga kinakausap ko s’ya na ‘Pasensya na po, inumaga ka’ sabi naman nya, ‘OK lang, namiss ko nga to eh’.”

When asked what is the difference between his version and Joey’s, Paolo said: “’Yung Barbie ni Joey, ‘yung character n’ya lalake s’ya. Kumbaga nagpanggap lang siya na babae. ‘Yung sa akin naman, bakla agad. Pero hindi nya mailabas. Unang-una sa family n’ya, kahit sa bestfriend nya hindi nya masabi.”

Apart from the comedy, the film also aims to show how a closet gay struggles to come out. Paolo said that in real life, your parents are actually the first ones that will know if you are gay.

“Unang-unang makakaalam kung bakla ka o hindi ‘yung magulang mo dahil ayan ang nagpalaki sa’yo eh. Nasa magulang nalang siguro ‘yun na dine-deny nila. Baka ayaw tanggapin or something. ‘Yung pagco-come out naman nasa tao ‘yan eh. Hindi naman ‘yan sapilitan. Kung ready na ‘yung tao then go; kung di pa s’ya ready, okay lang din.”

Produced by Octo Arts Films, M-Zet Production and T-Rex Entertainment and directed by Tony Y. Reyes, “Barbie D’ Wonder Beki” will start showing in cinemas on November 29. Also included in the cast are Smokey Manaloto, Ejay Falcon, Bianca Umali, Miguel Tan Felix and Kim Domingo.